Chapter Five
“Stars hide your fires, let not the light see my black and deep desires.’
~ Shakespeare, Macbeth
Blake
“I believe I need to tell this part,” Blake said, reaching over and squeezing Rakkur’s hand again. “Darling, aren’t you tired of hearing this old story yet?”
“No, not at all,” Rakkur said. “Please go on. I want to hear what happened next.”
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The morning he resigned, Werros had come to tell me he was leaving for a planet called Leeria right away.
Leeria was a neutral planet, but he was not taking me with him.
The Leerian government had refused entry to me, because they didn’t want to anger the new Tygerian king.
I was dumbfounded at first and pleaded with him to take me and go somewhere else.
I was frightened Davos would hurt my child.
After all, my baby was Werros’s son, and Davos had banished Werros.
Why would he want the son of the old king growing up around him? What if he hurt him in some way?
“My dear, the Leerians have forbidden it. You and the child would die on Leeria, anyway, just as you would on Earth. I-I’m sorry. I really don’t believe Davos will hurt you or your baby.”
I was not as sure as he was. I didn’t know him well, after all.
I’d seen Davos’s face, and I knew he hated me.
I dropped my head in my hands and wouldn’t watch as Werros packed his things and left the room, dropping a kiss on my bowed head, and whispering something to me in Tygerian, which he knew I couldn’t even understand.
I was so furious and scared that for a moment I could hardly breathe. He also knew how frightened I was of that man, Davos. I made up my mind to flee before the former and now present king could attack me again. The only place of refuge that might accept me was the church.
The first thing I did was take off the sapphire robe.
It was the mark of the king’s consort after all, and I was no longer consort.
I found a few of Werros’s old uniforms at the back of the closet and pulled them out.
They were old cadet uniforms that Werros had worn when he was still in training.
They looked as if they might fit, so I pulled one of them on.
It actually felt good to be wearing trousers again, and the armored vest might come in handy.
Besides, it would help me slip out of the palace more easily.
I pulled it on and then quickly left, not even taking anything with me. I couldn’t afford to alert the guards to what I was doing.
I strolled right out the front door and the Imperial guards who belonged to Davos had been standing in a huddle by my door, talking to each other.
They barely glanced at me—and I didn’t think they recognized me.
Many Tygerians had blond or reddish-blond hair, particularly the younger ones.
None of them made a move to stop me from leaving. They made me nervous though.
I began walking toward the church. It was over two miles away, but I was healthy and not so heavy yet that I couldn’t walk by any means.
Though of course, the physicians had warned me against it.
Human males weren’t biologically designed to carry a child by any means, so the risks were always great that any overexertion would start labor. It was a risk I’d have to take.
I had a small baby bump, but I wasn’t showing much.
The cadet uniform had a short black cape that I pulled around me to help hide the bump.
It was still relatively early in my pregnancy.
Well, sort of. When I finally got to the main church or temple, I went up to the gates and right through them.
It was a large building, with one of those pointy roofs that stretched up to the sky like a huge spear tip pointed at the stars.
It had a large pathway to the front door that I went right up to and rang the bell that hung beside it.
I noticed that the Imperial guards stayed outside the gates.
I waited until finally one of the young novitiates came to answer.
“I want to see Evoq,” I told him, and he nodded, stepping aside to let me in and then asking me to wait. After about ten minutes of cooling my heels in the front vestibule, Evoq finally appeared. He bowed to me and raised one eyebrow.
“Lt. Blake Cameron? What are you wearing? And where is King Werros?”
So, apparently, he was done calling me the Royal Consort, huh? I lifted my chin defiantly. “King Werros has renounced his throne, as I’m sure you know. But I’m still carrying King Werros’s child. Give me my proper title, please.”
He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course… Your Highness, then. Though you’re correct—Werros has stepped down. Davos is now the king. Or are you still married to King Davos too?”
I gave him a dark look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about but please try not to be rude. My mate, Werros, left for Leeria today, and I won’t be joining him just yet. He’s returning for me and in the meantime, I’m seeking refuge here with the church.”
“And the uniform?”
“I thought it more appropriate than the consort’s robes.”
“I see. And what does King Davos have to say about that?”
“I don’t give a damn what he says.”
“I must ask you not to use your Alliance curses here, Your Highness. Am I to take it that King Davos has kicked you out of the palace?”
I bristled but answered him evenly enough. “No. I chose to leave.”
He observed me quietly for a moment and then said, “And he allowed it? You seem different, Blake. Perhaps we need to begin your healing treatments again?”
“No. Leave me alone. I-I don’t need that. I simply need a place to stay until my baby is born.”
He looked me up and down. “You have no luggage? No extra clothing?”
“No.”
He nodded. “I’ll have one of the novitiates take you to a room. It won’t be as luxurious as I imagine you’re used to, however.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll make do.”
He bowed very slightly to me and pulled a cord by the wall. Almost as if he’d been hiding around a corner, my old nemesis, Valkarr suddenly appeared.
“You rang for assistance, sir?”
“Yes. Please take His Highness to an empty bedroom. He’ll be staying with us a while.”
He bowed to Evoq and beckoned for me to follow him.
He led me to a small cell-like room with a slab of wood pretending to be a bed and one uncomfortable chair to sit in, though it was by a window, I was gratified to see.
The room was stiflingly hot and small. He came a step closer to me, sneering at me.
“Well, well, how the mighty have fallen… Isn’t that what you humans say? My bearer was human, so I know all your stupid sayings.”
“Good for you. Then you’ll know what I mean when I say, fuck off!”
He started toward me, his face red, so he definitely did know, I guess.
I was ready for him though and reached down to retrieve my knife from my boot.
I’d stolen it from my dinner tray and started carrying it after the mob incident at…
the place I used to live. I couldn’t remember right now.
Someone had said I should always carry protection.
I couldn’t remember who that had been either, but I’d been through a lot lately, so it was to be expected.
He growled at me but stopped when I swiped at him. I’d known Valkarr was a coward.
“You need to know that I’m prepared to use this on you,” I said. I have nothing to lose, so you keep trying me, and I’ll stick this right up your ass.”
“You’re a vile, filthy creature.”
“Takes one to know one. Now get out of my room.”
“This isn’t over. I should beat you and make sure you learn the proper respect for your betters.”
“And where would I find one of those ‘betters’ on Tygeria?” I said and swiped at him again, just to scare him.
He jumped back and shouted a vicious sounding Tygerian curse at me before he left.
I slammed the door after him and heard the noise echo down the hall.
Exhausted, both from the walk and the confrontation, I went over to the chair and sat down, feeling pretty hopeless.
That fool Valkarr was not the kind to let something go, and coward though I thought he was, he was still bigger than me. I had no one to protect me now.
It was about an hour later that I heard a loud commotion outside my door. I began to tremble as I recognized this new voice. Damn it! The new king, Davos, had not only found out that I was here, but he had come after me.
The last time I’d seen him he’d called me a liar and pawed me all over.
He said he’d “fuck the truth out of me and ruin me for other men.” Then he’d bent me back over his arm and kissed me, sticking his tongue down my throat and making my traitorous dick as hard as marble.
How had I sunk so low as to be excited by that man’s touch?
I barely knew him! But I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
The things he’d said to me had lit me on fire though.
Was I so starved for attention that I’d take it from someone like him?
He was handsome, like many of the young men were.
And that whole time, even though he’d been threatening me and saying vile things, I never got the impression that he would really hurt me.
It was strange—like my body remembered him from somewhere, but my mind remained a blank where he was concerned.
“I want to see the human!” I heard him shouting, and I knew he was referring to me, of course. “Bring the Alliance lieutenant to me now!”
“I heard Evoq’s voice telling Davos I wasn’t there. “Your Majesty, please. The human is not in any of our rooms.” The tone of his voice barely even convinced me. Was he trying to get me killed?
“Then you won’t mind if we look, will you?”